the Class Council

This year I am once again leading the project ‘Democratic and cooperative classes’ at the I.C. Fidenae in Rome.

The main objective of the project is to introduce the “Class Council” into the regular school activity.

The class council is a democratic organ of the class group, which allows the group to talk about problems within the class, themes that concern the group and/or the territory to which it is connected, or to launch proposals to improve the quality of the group’s school life.

The class council has a precise structure within which the exchange of ideas between the members is guaranteed and protected. The roles that the students alternately play are:

• Chairman – ensures that the agenda is carried out as fully as possible and leads the assembly
• Secretary – takes care of a simple and schematic record of the decisions made
• Councillors – the rest of the group discusses and votes on the individual items on the agenda.

In order to arrive with sufficient awareness and preparation for the first class council, an initial phase is planned in which the classes involved carry out preparatory activities that stimulate and improve social skills and the ability to exchange ideas in the group.

After the first Class Councils, the class will continue autonomously, under my supervision, and I will cease to be present.

The teacher is a council member, with the same rights and duties. If requested by the chair group, the teacher intervenes to help. In cases of great confusion or serious conflicts, the teacher intervenes “motu proprio” with the aim of restoring calm and allowing the Council to continue and conclude. The teacher is in fact an “expert councilor”, with his or her experience he or she can, for example, ask to speak and:

• suggest to the Council how to proceed in order to put into practice the decisions taken,
• bring to the Council his ideas that take into account a broader vision,
• through dialogue facilitate the understanding of some complex concepts,
• create a link between young people and the adult world.

This project aims to promote the competences which are at the basis of a democratic and cooperative society, allowing them to discover, experience and understand them in ways and at times appropriate to their age.